Private GPs have been accused of cashing in on the flu crisis by charging as much as £45 for a vaccine that costs the NHS £8.
And some clinics are charging up to £75 for a nasal immunisation spray for children that costs the health service £18.
Although patients in certain ‘at risk’ groups – including the over-65s – get vaccinated for free on the NHS, the majority have to pay privately.
They can get it either from a pharmacist or a private GP clinic, as their own NHS doctor will only have enough stocks for at-risk patients.
Private GPs have been accused of cashing in on the winter flu crisis by charging as much as £45 for a vaccine that costs the NHS £8
Many private clinics have seen a surge in demand in the past week after a sudden rise in flu rates, which are twice as high as last year. Figures yesterday showed cases had increased by a third compared with last week, but this is likely to be an under-estimate.
An investigation by the Daily Mail has uncovered a huge variation in prices charged by private GPs for the same flu jabs.
The most effective vaccine is the ‘quadrivalent’, which protects against four strains of flu. While the more reasonable GP surgeries are charging between £10 and £15 for this type of jab, many are making patients pay £30 or more.

The Dr Arun Ghosh clinics – which have five surgeries in Liverpool, Manchester and Cheshire – and the Surrey GP in Guildford both charge £45 for the jab.
The Oxford Private GP charges £40, the Fleet Street Clinic in central London £35 and the Same Day Doctor in London and Manchester £30. The same vaccine is available for £15 at the Walcote Practice in Winchester and £11.85 at the Newcastle Premier Health Centre.
Two clinics – the Oxford Private GP and the Private GP in Leicester – are charging £75 for a nasal vaccine for children. The same spray costs £32.50 at the Newcastle Premier Health Centre – although it is now out of stock – and £45 at Winchester’s Walcote Practice.
Justine Roberts, chief executive of the Mumsnet website, said: ‘It’s a great shame if some clinics are taking advantage of parents’ fears by ramping up the price.’
Liz McAnulty, chairman of the Patients Association, said: ‘There should not be a cost barrier to vaccination for patients, staff and carers who are not eligible to receive it on the NHS but want to be vaccinated anyway.’
Labour MP Chris Bryant said: ‘This is a scam. It seems private clinics are taking advantage of the problems being faced by the NHS and overcharging.’
Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake said: ‘Money-grabbing by private health companies over flu jabs is an outrage.’
The flu vaccine is available on the NHS for over-65s, children aged two to eight, pregnant women and patients with long-term conditions such as asthma and diabetes. But most are offered a less effective jab that prevents only three strains. It offers no protection against a fourth strain currently circulating, B Yamagata.
For this reason, some patients entitled to an NHS jab have decided to pay privately for the more powerful four-strain vaccine. Several Boots stores in the Midlands, East Anglia, South and South West said they had run out of the flu jab at the weekend. They blamed a sudden increase in demand and said supplies would be replenished immediately.
Provisional figures from Public Health England yesterday showed there were 4,128 confirmed cases of flu in the week up to January 14, up from 3,044 the week before.
But this accounts only for cases where the virus was detected in the lab, and the true figure is likely to be much higher.
The Mail contacted the surgeries charging £35 or more for the flu jab but most refused to comment.
Dr Arun Ghosh said his vaccines were more expensive because they are carried out in private hospitals where a doctor and paediatric nurse are paid to be present.
He added: ‘That’s where the cost is. I admit we haven’t made that clear on our website. If people said to us “I just want a flu jab”, we would probably say “you’re better off going to Boots or Asda”.
‘We often see vulnerable people like autistic children or people who have had reactions in the past and it has to be done in a hospital.’